Myla Goldberg

Author Myla Goldberg grew up in Maryland, escaping the suburbs as soon as possible to attend Oberlin College. After graduating in 1993 with an English degree, she spent a year in Prague writing and teaching English to former Communist ministers before moving to Brooklyn, New York, where she has been living, writing, and teaching ever since.

Her short stories have appeared in Harper's and McSweeney's. Her first novel, Bee Season (2000), is not merely a coming-of-age story, but a delicate examination of the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. Bee Season was a national best-seller, which was turned into a movie starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche in 2005.

Goldberg's book, The False Friend (2011), is an astonishingly complex drama with a simple setup: two eleven-year-old girls, best friends and fierce rivals, go into the woods ... only one comes out. Deeply resonant and emotionally charged, The False Friend explores the complexities of moral judgment, the fallibility of memory, and the adults that children become -- leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, and the lies to which we ultimately succumb. The Washington Post calls it a "fascinating and fresh" look at a topical subject.

Goldberg's other novels include Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague (2004), Wicket's Remedy (2006), Catching the Moon (2013), and Feast Your Eyes (2019).

Goldberg is also an accomplished amateur musician. She plays the banjo and accordion in a Brooklyn-based indie rock quartet, The Walking Hellos. She has performed with The Galerkin Method and the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. She formerly collaborated with the New York art collective Flux Factory. She has contributed song lyrics to the musical group One Ring Zero. Additionally, she was honored with a song by the band The Decemberists entitled "Song for Myla Goldberg." Track six on The Decemberists' album Her Majesty The Decemberists, it makes a handful of allusions to Bee Season.